Heating and soaking furnace.



F. J. SPANG.

HEATING AND SOAKING FURNACE.

APPLICATION man APR.25.1918.

1,280,889. l Patented 06u 8,1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

WITNESSES INVENTOR F. J. SPANG.

HEATING AND soAKING FURNACE..

APPLICATION FILED APR. 25 191B.

Patented Oct. 8, 1918.

4 HEETS-SHEET 3 F. J. SPANG.

HEATING AAND SOAKING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.25. |918.

Patented Oct. 8, 1918.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4 F IELE- MME www 11,

FERDINAND J. SPANG, OF BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA.

HEATING AND SOAKING FURNACE.

,To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, FERDINAND J L SPANG, acitizen of the United States, and a resident lof Butler, in the county of Butler and State of Pennsylvania, have made a new and useful Invention in Heating and Soaking Furnaces, of which the4 fol-lowing is a specification. A f

This invention *relates to furnaces and more particularly to heating or soakin furnaces for heating the nose end of shell b anks or similar articles.

In the manufacture ofl certain types of shells (projectiles) it is customary to draw or pressvthe shells from steel blanks into cylindrical form having one closed end. The cylinders are' then rough machined outside and finish machined inside. The blanks are then heated and the open end is nosed in after which the exterior is ii`nish'- 1naA chined, A, i

As the nosing-in process, even when the nose portion isproperly heated or soaked is apt to collapse or distort the remainder of the shell unless it is relatively cool, it becomes important to properly and uniformly soak or heat the nose end of tne shell without softening the remainder to ay degree which -will allow it to collapse or distort during the nosing-in operation.

An object of this invention is to provide a` soaking furnace for shell blanks or similar articles whereby the nose end of the shells may be uniformly and properly hea-ted withoutheating the remainder of th'e blanks to a detrimental degree.

A further object of 'this invention is to provide a simple, rugged and effective rotary soaking furnace for shell blanks and similary articles by means of which the heating or soaking period and the region of soaking is automatically controlled.

These, as well as other objects which will readily appear to those skilled in this art, I attain in the device described in the speciication and illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forminga part of this application and throughout which similar elements are denoted by like characters.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of an apparatus embodying this invention showing the dome or cover raisedfor giving access to the interior of the heating chamber thereof, Fig. 2 is a view in sectional elevation of said appa- I Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented oct. s, 191e.

Application led April 25, 1918. Serial No. 230,804.

ratus and shows the cover in place. This view is taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 3, Fig.

The. heating chamber 10 consists of anouter cylindrical heavy sheet metal wall 11 supported on a cast iron base 12. A fire brick lining 13 for the bottom and side walls is provided. Supporting base 12 which is circular in form,is provided with a central opening 14, a depending annular flange 15 and depending strengthening and supporting radially extending webs or ribs 16.

The lower edges of ribs 16 are notched at 17 so as to center the supporting base 12 with relation to a supporting bracket 18 upon which the base 12 rests.

Supporting bracket 18 at its center 19 is bored out to fit an upright cylindrical portion 20 formed as an extension of an upstanding hollow central column 21 formed on the base plate 22. Cylindrical portion 20 serves as a centering column about which the furnace rotates.

The under face of supporting bracket 18 is formed in the nature `of a gear wheel 24, and with this gear, a pinion 25 carried on a cross shaft 26 meshes. The cross shaft is journaled in bearings formed inblocks 27 and 28 secured to base plate 22 and the shaft is driven through a worm wheel 29 and worm 30 from anv suitable source of power, such as an electric motor. The lower face of supporting bracket 18 outside of the gear teeth presents a smooth surface which rests on roller 30 journaled in brackets 301.j mounted on the base plate. The rollers support the weight of the furnace and allow it to freely rotate. To facilitate' in the manufacture of the apparatus support 12 and supporting bracket 18 are cast separately. If desired, however, these can be combined in one casting with slight modification.

A furnace dome or top supporting ring 31 provided with an upstandin annular flange 32 rests on the top of cylin rical wall 11 and supports an arched brick or tile dome or cover 33. Eye bolts 34 are secured to the supporting ring 31 in order that the y cover may be lifted from the furnacel by means of chains 35 when access to the furnace is desired. l

The furnace may be either gas or oil ired, orv if desired powdered coal may be used, but in the form illustrated l have shown a gas fired furnace. The burner comprises a casting 36 of circular form which rests upona burner support 37. rlhe burner 'support is annular in form and at its'center has a de' v pending cylindrical ange 38 Which rests dll upon the top of annular upstanding ange of the base plate. The outer periphery of the burner support ,37 has a depending annular flange 39 below and in proximity with which thegiknner. or centralportion of the brick 4Floor of the'furnace rotates.`

' A. sealing'platel() carried by support 12 closely encircles they outer surface of stationary flange 38 Vto form a seal between the furnace interior and the burner support.

vThe burner casting is provided Witha gas chamber 41 supplied with gas through a pipe 42 from any suitable source of supply, and

- an air chamber 43 supplied with air through -its central'inlet 44 Which communicatesvvith -the central opening in the burner support 45Hwhic`h communicates with the interior of the support column 20, which is supplied' With air under'pressure conveyed through a pipe 46 from any suitablesource such as a blower. An annular series of gas nozzles 47 projecting from gas chamber' 41 are ar ranged so as to lie 'Within burner tubes 48 which project radially from air chamber 43. This construction affords a series of Bunsen burners for projecting the heating flames brick lining. v

The shell supports at their inner ends are cylindrical and. are bored out so as to more or less snugly fit the shells to be treated. The outer portion of the supports have their tops cut away and form semi-cylindrical supporting shelves.

i stationary shell guiding member 52 is supported eccentrically With relation to the furnace chamber 'on a series of support columns 53 and the-member is provided with opstanding flanges 54 and 55 forming therebetweenV a guiding channel. rllhe guiding member is preferably .made up in segments joined together asat 56 (Fig. 3) and extends substantially around the furnace leaving room for an operator between its entrance end 5? and its enit end 58.

neeeeee rll`he entrance end of the guide channel is l flared so as to give easy access thereto.

Prior to placing the shellblanks within the shell supports approaching the entrance end of the guiding channel a star Wheel59 such as shown in Fig. 5 is'secured to the outer or base end of each shell blank by means of a set screwl 60."

Pins 61 extend at suitable intervals through flanges 54 and 55 forming the guiding channel and the star Wheels contacting With said pins cause the shell blanks to ro.- tate about their axes as .they are carried from the entrance end of the guiding channelof the eXit end by the rotating furnace. As the star Wheels lie Within the guiding channel and as the guiding channel is eccentrically arranged' With relation to the furnace the shells in their travel along the guide are caused to reciprocatev Within the Ashell guides; the arrangement is such that the nose portions of the shells are soaked and the extreme nose ends are soaked longer 4 than the remainder of the nose portions.:y

*provided With a tapered casting 62 adapted to be normally closed by a plug 63; this openingis provided for the introduction of a thermo couple 63a.

ln the modified form shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the fuel is introduced through an opening in the center of the dome or cover and is projected intothe furnace through a series of burners 70. With Vthis form the door of the furnace chamber canbe continuous throughout as shown in Fig. 6.

Plugs such as plugs 71v are provided for closing the shell blank openings during the 'warming up period. of the furnace and for certain openings duri-ng the operation of the furnace if it becomes necessary. As, the shells are simultaneously revolved about their ares which reciprocated Within their suports the resistance to the reciprocating v movement is reduced.

il, may be termed the feeding in point of the furnace and B the point of removal. Assuming that the furnace has reached the proper temperature for soaking and that the same is rotating' at the proper speed7 the shell blanks to' be treated are each equipped with a star Wheel such as shown in Fig. 5 prior to insertion in the shell support then approaching the entrance end of the guid-4 be subjected to heat therein. .ln the rio 4travel of the furnace relative to the guiding the furnace until about one-fourth of the length of the shells .are exposed to the direct heat ;k as the shells move away from the en'- trance point and toward the removal point their distance within the furnace is decreased until they reach a position just prior to the removal point when they are again moved farther into the heating chamber. In this way it is assured that the noses of the shells will be uniformly heated to a high temperature while the remainder of the shell walls are relatively cool or rather cool enough to withstand the nosing-in operation without themselves collapsing or becoming distorted.

.If for any reason it is found desirable, the eccentric relation between the guiding track or channel and the furnace may be varied so long as an arrangement is kept whereby the nose portions of the shell blanks are subjected to the direct heat of the furnace in varying amounts as the furnace revolves from .the entrance point to the exit point. It is desired that the nose portion be heated to.about1950 F. while the portion seven inches from the nose on a six inch shell to only 1500". The rotation of the shells about their axes during the rotation of the furnace insures a uniform soaking of the nose portions and it has been found that when the shells reach the'exit or removal point they are in condition for the nosing-in operation.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes I have describedv the operation of my invention, together with the device which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to'v have it understood that the device shown is only illustrative' and that.the invention can be carried out in other ways.

Having thus describedv my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a furnace for heating the nose ends 'of shell blanks or the like, a heating chamber, and means for longitudinally advanc, ing a shell partially into and then out of said chamber and for simultaneously rotat` ing the same about its axis.

2. In a furnace for heating the nose ends 4 of 'shell blanks or the like, a heating chamber having a shell opening in a wall thereof, and means for reciprocating a shell within said "opening and simultaneously rotating the same about its axis.

3. In a furnace for heating the nose ends of shell blanks or the like, a heating chamber, a. shell support extending through a wall thereof, and means for reciprocating a shell within said support and simultaneously rotating the same about its axis.

4. In a furnacefor heating the nose ends of shell blanks or the like, a heating chamber, and means located outside thereof for moving a shell partially into and out of said chamber and for simultaneously rotating the 'same about its axis. V

5. In a furnace for heating the nose ends of shell blanks or the like, a heating chamber having a shell opening in a Wall thereof, and means located outside of said chamber for reciprocating a shell within said opening and simultaneously rotating the samefabout its axis.

6. In a furnace for heating the nose ends of shell blanks or the like, aheating chamber, a shell support extending through a wall thereof, and means located outside of said chamber for reciprocating a shell within said support and simultaneously rotating the same about its axis.

7. In a furnace for heating the nose ends of shell blanks or the like, a heating chamber, a shell su port extending through a wall thereof, 'a she l, and means operatively connected to the outer end of said shell for reciprocating the same within said supporta wall thereof, and means for reciprocating shells within said supports and simultaneously rotating them about their axes.

10. In a furnace for heating the nose ends of shell blanks or the like, a` rotary furnace, a series of shell supports extending through a wall thereof, shells within said supports, a stationary guide, and means 'carried by said shells and coperating with said guide for reciprocating said shells-within said supports and rotating the same about their axes.

11. In a furnace for heating the nose ends of shell blanks or the like, a rotatably mounted chamber, means for rotating said chamber, heating means located within said chamber, shell carriers mounted in a wall of said chamber, and means for reciprocating shells within said shell carriers and simultaneously rotating the same in their movement around said heating means.

12. I a furnace for heating the nose ends i of shel blanks or the like, a heating chamber mounted for rotation about a vertical aXis, means for rotating` said chamber, a series of shell supports extending through the vertical Walls of said chamber, a stationary guide .outside of said chamber and eccentrically mounted With relation thereto, shells located Within said supports, and means connected `With saidshells and associated with said eccentric guide for reciprocating said shells Within said supports and simultaneously rotatinghe same during the travel of said chamber.

13. ln .a urnacefor heating `the nose ends l of shell blanks or the like, a heating chamber mounted for rotation about a Vertical axis, means for rotating said chamber, a series ci horizontally disposed shell supports extending tl/rough a Wall of said chamber, and Iiii-uiding lmeans located outside' of said chamber for causing' .shells Within said supports to be projected into said. chamber in varying; distances from the "feeding-in point of said shells to the removal point thereof,

14. in a soaking. furnace, a rotatably mounted heating chamber, means for rotating said chamber, supports for articles eX- tending through a Wall of said chamber, and means i'or causing; articles carried in said supports to be rotated about their axes dur- Laedeea ing the rotating orV said chamber and to bel successively projected into and removed 'from said chamber in varying amounts'during` the travel of said chamber. l

15. ln a soaking furnace, a heating chamber, a burner Within said chamber, means for rotating the Walls of said chamber. around said burner, a shell supportextending through a Wall of said chamber, and means for reciprocating a shell Within said support and simultaneously lrotating the same about its axis.

16. ln a soaking furnace, a heating chamber mount/@dior rotation about avertioal axis, means for rotating said chamber, a stationarv heating" device tor projecting a flame Within said chamber, a series of horizontally l disposed shell supports extending,- through a Wall of said'chamber and guiding means `1ocated outside of said chamber' for causing shells Within said supports to be recipro-` cated therein and simultaneously rotated about their axes.

ln testimony whereof, l have hereunto" subscribed my name this 19th day of April, 191%.

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